The Lady Who Cried Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery) (23 page)
Read The Lady Who Cried Murder (A Mac Faraday Mystery) Online
Authors: Lauren Carr
Tags: #mystery, #police procedural, #cozy, #whodunit, #crime
“Mike,” Joshua heard the name climb up out of his throat while his breath quickened.
Suddenly, he was out of his seat and running for the exit. He burst out the door onto the street to see the police cruiser and the black Bonneville disappear into traffic.
That was the last time anyone saw Sheriff Deputy Mike Gardner.
Chapter Two
Eighteen Years Later – Tomlinson Run Park, New Manchester, WV
“Want another piece of chicken, Tad?”
Dr. Tad MacMillan studied the last two bites of white meat on the chicken breast before answering the robust woman standing over him with a foil pan in one hand and a pair of tongs clutching a fried thigh in the other.
“Come on, Tad,” His wife, Jan, urged him from across the picnic table. Her attention was divide between her husband and their three month old son who was fussing in the baby carrier on top of the table. “You know you want it.” He was already on his third piece. All that he had left of the potato salad was dressing smudge on his plate. “That’s what church picnics are for. Eating until you bust.”
Before Tad could respond, the woman dropped the thigh onto his paper plate and moved on to the next table to foist the remaining chicken on other hungry picnickers.
“I’m trying to save room for Cameron’s chocolate cake,” Tad said while looking toward the picnic grounds parking lot for his cousin and his wife, “if she ever comes.”
“Not to mention the ice cream that Josh is supposed to bring,” Jan said.
“Where are they anyway?”
“Cameron got a lead on a murder case she was working and took off to follow it up this morning,” Jan replied while unhooking and taking Tad Junior out of the carrier. “Joshua decided to work on an opening argument that he’s giving tomorrow. He didn’t want to come without her.”
“Just like newlyweds.” Tad dove into the next piece of chicken. “I remember when you refused to go anywhere without me at your side.
“I never thought we would get this old and settled.”
“Can you really picture me being settled?” Tad let out a laugh before peeling the crispy skin off the thigh on his plate.
“I just hope TJ takes after me instead of you in that regard,” Jan said.
“You’re not the only one.”
While the older members of the church congregation were helping themselves to seconds and thirds, the younger members were racing in paddle boats across the lake. Joshua Thornton’s sixteen year old son, Donny, the only remaining child at home, was included in the group. The boys were racing the girls. “Can’t you pedal any faster?” Donny yelled at his friend Russ.
“I’m pedaling as fast as I can!” The chubby teenager who rarely exercised anything except his fingers while playing computer games was put out with being coerced into this activity in the first place. Being partners with Donny, a linebacker on Oak Glen High School’s football team, he stood a chance of winning in the race.
“Beat you!” The girls squealed from the shore where they turned their craft around.
With a curse, Donny kicked at the pedals and sat back to let the sun shine on his face. He could feel the paddle boat rock while Russ leaned over the side to peer into the water.
“Hey, what’s that?” Russ asked.
“What?” Donny replied without opening his eyes.
“Down there.”
“Down where?”
Russ nudged him in the arm. “In the water. It looks like a car.”
Opening his eyes, Donny sat up. “So someone tossed their old car into the lake. Happens all the time.”
“Do the police dump their old cruisers in the lake, too?”
End of Excerpt
Lauren Carr
About the Author
Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime. The first installment in the Joshua Thornton mysteries,
A Small Case of Murder
was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award.
Lauren is also the author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
It’s Murder, My Son
,
Old Loves Die Hard, and Shades of Murder, Blast from the Past, and The Murders at Astaire Castle
have all made the best-sellers ranks on Amazon in cozies and police procedural mysteries, as well as receiving rave reviews from readers and reviewers.
Dead on Ice
introduced a new series entitled Lovers in Crime, in which Joshua Thornton will join forces with homicide detective Cameron Gates. The second installment,
Real Murder
, will be released January 2014.
The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This spring, two books written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
She lives with her husband, son, and two dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Visit Lauren’s websites and blog at:
E-Mail:
[email protected]
Website:
http://acornbookservices.com/
Blog: Literary Wealth:
http://literarywealth.wordpress.com/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/lauren.carr.984991
Gnarly’s Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/GnarlyofMacFaradayMysteries
Lovers in Crime Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/LoversInCrimeMysteries?ref=ts&fref=ts
Twitter: @TheMysteryLadie
Other
Lauren Carr Mysteries!
Check Out These Other Highly-Acclaimed Mysteries
The Mac Faraday Mysteries
The story takes hold immediately and the reader quickly identifies with Mac. The plot is well done without being overplotted. There are just enough twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. The climatic confrontation with the killer is good and the wrap up leaves you laughing and feeling good. The writing style is easy and draws the reader in effortlessly. I am looking forward to the next installment!
Reviewer: Ariel Heart, Mystery and My Musings Review
What started out as the worst day of Mac Faraday’s life, would end up being a completely new beginning. After a messy divorce hearing, the last person that Mac wanted to see is another lawyer. Yet, this lawyer looked very unlawyer-like, wearing the expression of a child about to reveal a guarded secret. This secret would reveal Mac as heir to undreamed of fortunes and lead him to Spencer, Maryland, the birthplace of America’s Queen of Mystery, with her millions and an investigation that unfolds like one of her famous mystery novels.
It’s Murder, My Son
is Author Lauren Carr’s third mystery novel. Carr’s first novel A Small Case of Murder was named finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Awards. She resides in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where she lives with her husband and son on a mountaintop. “I love a good mystery,” said Author Lauren Carr. “Growing up in a small community an argument at the corner store can become a murder by dinner. Making the story a reality on paper is a real thrill.”
Behind the gated community in Spencer, Maryland, multi-millionaire Katrina Singleton learns that life in an exclusive community is not all good. She thought her good looks and charm made her untouchable; but, for reasons unknown, a strange man calling himself “Pay Back” begins terrorizing her and her home. When Katrina was found strangled in her lake house, all evidence points to her terrorist, who is nowhere to be found. Three months later the file on Katrina’s murder was still open with only vague speculations from the local police department.
In walks Mac Faraday, sole heir to his unknown birth mother’s home and fortune. Little does he know as he drives his new Dodge Viper up to Spencer Manor that he is driving into a closed gate community that is hiding more suspicious deaths than his DC workload as a homicide detective. With the help of his late mother’s journals and two newfound companions, this recently retired cop puts all his detective skills to work to pick up where the local police have left off to following clues to Katrina’s killer.
The fast-paced complex plot brings surprising twists into a storyline that leads Mac and his friends into grave danger. Readers are drawn into Mac’s past, meet his children, and experience the troubling relationships of his former in-laws. New fans will surely look forward to the next installment in this great new series.
Reviewer: Edie Dykeman
Bellaonline Mystery Books Editor
Old Loves Die Hard
…and in the worst places.
Retired homicide detective Mac Faraday, heir of the late mystery writer Robin Spencer, is settling nicely into his new life at Spencer Manor when his ex-wife Christine shows up—and she wants him back! Before Mac can send her packing, Christine and her estranged lover are murdered in Mac’s private penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn, the five-star resort built by his ancestors.
The investigation leads to the discovery of cases files for some of Mac’s murder cases in the room of the man responsible for destroying his marriage. Why would his ex-wife’s lover come to Spencer to dig into Mac’s old cases?
With the help of his new friends on Deep Creek Lake, Mac must use all of his detective skills to clear his name and the Spencer Inn’s reputation, before its five-stars—and more bodies—start dropping!
